Corporate Development During The Industrial Revolu Essays (555 words)

Corporate Development During The Industrial Revolu Essays (555 words) Corporate Development During The Industrial Revolution The Standard Oil Company founded by John D. Rockefeller and the U.S. Steel Company founded by Andrew Carnegie. The Standard Oil Company and U.S. Steel Company were made successful in different ways due to the actions of their different owners. The companies differed in their labor relations, market control, and structural organization. In the steel industry, Carnegie developed a system known as vertical integration. This means that he cut out the middle man. Carnegie bought his own iron and coal mines because using independent companies cost too much and were inefficient. By doing this he was able to undersell his competetors because they had to pay the competitors they went through to get the raw materials. Unlike Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller integrated his oil business from top to bottom, his distinctive innovation in movement of American industry was horizontal. This meant he followed one product through all its stages. For example, rockrfeller controlled the oil when it w as drilled, through the refining stage, and he maintained control over the refining process turning it into gasoline. Although these two powerful men used two different methods of management their businesses were still very successful (Conlin, 425-426). Tycoons like Andrew Carnegie, the steel king, and John D. Rockefeller, the oil baron, exercised their genius in devising ways to circument competition. Although, Carnegie inclined to be tough-fisted in business, he was not a monopolist and disliked monopolistic trusts. John D. Rockefeller came to dominate the oil industry. With one upward stride after another he organized the Standard Oil Company, which was the nucleus of the great trust that was formed. Rockefeller showed little mercy. He believed primitive savagery prevailed in the jungle world of business, where only the fittest survived. He persued the policy of ruin or rule. Rockefellers oil monopoly did turn out a superior product at a relatively cheap price. Rockefeller belive d in ruthless business, Carnegie didnt, yet they both had the most successful companies in their industries. (The American Pageant, pages 515-518) Rockefeller treated his customers in the same manner that Andrew Carnegie treated his workers: cruel and harsh. The Standard Oil Company desperately wanted every possible company to buy their products. Standard Oil used ruthless tactics when Rockefeller threatenedto start his own chain of grocery stores and put local merchants out of business if they did not buy oil from Standard Oil Company. Carnegie dealt with his workers with the same cold lack of diplomacy and consideration. Carnegie would encourage an unfriendly competition between two of his workers and he goaded them into outdoing one another. Some of his employees found working under Carnegie unbearable. These rivalries became so important to the employees that somedidnt talk to each other for years (McCloskkey, page 145). Although both Carnegie and Rockefeller created extermely s uccesssful companies, they both used unscrupulous methods in some aspect of their corporation building to get to the top. The success of the Standard Oil Company and U.S. Steel company was credited to the fact that their owners ran them with great authority. In this very competetive time period, many new businesses were being formed and it took talented businessmen to get ahead and keep the companies running and make the fortunes that were made during this period. Bibliography Titan

31 Fun Pipe Cleaner Crafts for Kids

31 Fun Pipe Cleaner Crafts for Kids SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Pipe cleaner crafts are one of the easiest and most fun types of crafts to do with children. In this guide, we’ve compiled 31 of the best pipe cleaner crafts for kids. They range from crafts that take only a few minutes and can be done by very young children, to crafts that are a little more involved but will produce toys that’ll last for many hours of play. For each of these easy pipe cleaner crafts, we include a description of the craft, a link to more detailed instructions, the difficulty level (easy, medium, or hard), and the materials needed. (Note that crafts labelled as â€Å"hard† are still absolutely doable; they will just likely require more adult help to complete.)These pipe cleaner crafts range from animals to jewelry to science experiments, and they can be done by children of a variety of ages. One tip before you get started: many of these crafts suggest you use white craft glue to get the pipe cleaners to stick to each other or other craft supplies like paper, plastic, etc. Craft glue usually isn’t strong enough for this, and the crafts often fall apart after a few hours. When gluing something to pipe cleaners or gluing pipe cleaners to another object, we recommend using a hot glue gun instead. Feature image source: Flickr/Nicole #1: Chameleon Difficulty Level: Medium These cute pipe cleaner chameleons are made by wrapping green pipe cleaners around a marker to make basic body and head shapes, then legs and eyes are added. The eyes can either be made by creating two small circles with pieces of orange pipe cleaner or (more simply) gluing on googly eyes. Materials Needed: PIpe cleaners (green, orange, and red suggested) Marker Felt Scissors Hot glue gun Googly eyes (optional) #2: Seashore Crabs Difficulty Level: Medium This crab pipe cleaner craft is a great way to use some seashells you picked up from the beach. You’ll paint a shell that’ll be used as the body, then bend and attach pipe cleaners to act as the legs and claws. Add two googly eyes and your crab is set. Materials Needed: Pipe cleaners (red or blue suggested) Small seashells Craft paint Googly eyes Hot glue gun #3: Finger Puppets Difficulty Level: Easy An easy pipe cleaner craft for younger kids, pipe cleaner finger puppets can be made in less than 10 minutes. Just take a pipe cleaner, wrap it tightly around your child’s finger or your pinky finger to make the body, adding loops for ears or arms if you like. Then, pull the pipe cleaner off your finger, glue the pom pom to where you want the head to be, and add some eyes. Materials Needed: Pipe cleaners (any color) Googly eyes Hot glue gun Pom poms #4: Crocodile Difficulty Level: Medium For these pipe cleaner crocodiles, you’ll wrap pipe cleaners around craft sticks to create the animal’s body. The craft stick makes these crocs sturdier than many other pipe cleaner crafts, so they’re easier to play with without damaging them. Materials Needed: Pipe cleaners (green color suggested) Popsicle/craft sticks, colored green Small googly eyes Black markers Hot glue gun Zig zag scissors White paper #5: Spring Flowers Difficulty Level: Medium Pipe cleaner flowers are a great craft if you’re looking for something less messy than planting regular flowers. The link includes instructions on how to make tulips, daffodils, and hyacinths. These flowers can also be â€Å"potted† in little flower pots as a cute way to display them. Materials Needed: Pipe cleaners (variety of colors, including green) Pencil Scissors Ruler Hot glue gun Small flower pots (optional) Floral foam (optional) #6: Bracelets Difficulty Level: Easy Pipe cleaner bracelets are super easy to make, and if you have lots of colors of pipe cleaners, you can make yourself a whole collection of rainbow-colored jewelry. To make the bracelets, just twist two colors of pipe cleaners together, or you can braid several colors together. Materials Needed: Pipe cleaners (any color) Scissors #7: Coffee Filter Butterflies Difficulty Level: Easy If you’re looking for a craft that includes both painting and pipe cleaners, check out these coffee filter butterflies. The wings are made out of painted coffee filters, while the body and antennae are made from pipe cleaners. This is a great craft for younger kids to get creative painting their butterfly’s wings. Materials Needed: Pipe cleaners (any color) Coffee filters Watercolor paints and brush Hot glue gun Scissors #8: Plastic Egg Bugs Difficulty Level: Easy These plastic egg bugs are a cute pipe cleaner craft to do around Easter or anytime you have some plastic eggs around. The plastic egg (decorated with permanent marker if you wish) will be the body, and pipe cleaners will be the bug’s legs and antennae. Materials Needed: Pipe cleaners (any color) Plastic eggs Googly eyes Hot glue gun Permanent marker Scissors #9: Bead People Difficulty Level: Hard For this bead people pipe cleaner craft, you’ll create the â€Å"skeleton† of the body with pipe cleaners, then string beads along them. It can be a bit tricky to figure out the best way to get the beads on at first, but after a little practice you’ll have a bendable bead person to play with. Materials Needed: Pipe cleaners (any color) Wooden or plastic beads Scissors #10: Christmas Trees Difficulty Level: Easy Pipe cleaner Christmas trees are one of the quickest pipe cleaner Christmas crafts. Just zigzag a pipe cleaner to form the shape of a tree, add a gold star on top, and you have a pipe cleaner Christmas tree that can be glued to a card or displayed on its own. Materials Needed: Pipe cleaners (green color suggested) Cardstock or paper Gold star stickers Glue Glitter (optional) #: Bendable Monkey Difficulty Level: Medium These bendable monkeysare really fun for kids to play with and can be hung off the backs of chairs or on a finger. The body of the monkey is made out of paper, while pipe cleaners make the bendable arms and legs. Kids can draw the monkey’s face on with crayons or markers. Materials Needed: Pipe cleaners (brown or black colors suggested) Two shades of brown paper Hot glue gun Markers Scissors #12: Rainbow Difficulty Level: Easy This rainbow pipe cleaner craft is an easy way to teach kids about the different colors of the rainbow and have them create one of their own. Just grab one pipe cleaner for each color that you need, bend them in a bow shape, add some fluffy cotton ball clouds, and either leave it as is or attach it to thick paper or floral foam. Materials Needed: Pipe cleaners (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple colors) Cotton balls Glue Floral foam (optional) #13: Jellyfish Difficulty Level: Medium Kids will love the long, wiggly tentacles of pipe cleaner jellyfish. Use half a painted foam ball to form the body of the jellyfish, then wrap several pipe cleaners around pencils or another object with a long, thin stick shape. Pull the pipe cleaners off, stretch them out a bit, attach them to the flat side of the foam ball hemisphere, and decorate your jellyfish. Materials Needed: Pipe cleaners (any color) 2  ½ inch styrofoam balls Knife for cutting styrofoam balls Paint Ruler Hot glue gun String Googly eyes Toothpick #14: Bookmarks Difficulty Level: Easy These fun pipe cleaner bookmarks are an easy way to get kids more excited about reading. Have the kids wrap, bend, and twirl the pipe cleaners to any shape they want, add googly eyes, and glue their creation onto a paper clip to create an easy and creative bookmark. Materials Needed: Pipe cleaners (any color) Colorful paper clips Googly eyes Hot glue gun Scissors Thin stick to wrap pipe cleaners around #15: Egg Carton Spy Glasses Difficulty Level: Medium With just some egg cups cut from an egg carton, pipe cleaners, and your choice of decorations, you can help your child create a pair of their very own secret â€Å"spy glasses.† The egg cups form the lens, and the pipe cleaners are the arms that go around your ears. Paint and beads make this a creative craft project. Materials Needed: Pipe cleaners (any color) Cardboard egg carton Plastic beads Craft paint Scissors Hot glue gun Toothpick #16: Ninjas Difficulty Level: Hard If your kids love ninjas or any other action figures, they’ll love pipe cleaner ninjas. The â€Å"skeleton† of the ninja is made out of pipe cleaners, which you’ll then put pieces of plastic straws over to create a body. A wooden bead will be the head, and you can add additional decorations to create fully bendable ninjas. Materials Needed: Pipe cleaners (any color) Colored drinking straws Scissors Wooden beads for the heads Plastic beads How glue gun Permanent marker #17: Snakes Difficulty Level: Easy By twisting two colors of pipe cleaners together, adding eyes and a tiny red tongue, you can quickly make a pipe cleaner snake. You can even turn this into a biology lesson and have kids look at pictures of different snakes and choose pipe cleaner colors to match a specific snake species. Materials Needed: Pipe cleaners (at least 2 colors) Small googly eyes Hot glue gun Red felt Scissors #18: Fall Fairies Difficulty Level: Hard These pipe cleaner fairies are a great craft to do during the fall, when you can use colorful leaves that have fallen to make fairy wings. Pipe cleaners and beads make the fairy’s body, yarn is used for the hair, and leaves (either real or fake) are stacked to create a colorful skirt. Materials Needed: Pipe cleaners (any color) Yarn Marker Scissors Leaves (fake or real) Wooden bead for head Plastic beads Hot glue gun #19: Christmas Wreath Difficulty Level: Easy These Christmas wreaths are another example of easy pipe cleaner Christmas crafts. You can also bows and small beads to the wreaths for additional decorations, and if you can find pipe cleaners with sparkles that will make them even more festive. Materials Needed: Pipe cleaners (red, white, and green suggested) Pencil to wrap pipe cleaner around. Small beads (optional) #20: Spider Difficulty Level: Medium Spiders are a classic pipe cleaner craft, and kids will love making the eight legs for their pipe cleaner spider. Although you can make the spiders with just pipe cleaners, you can also add pom poms, eyes, and beads for additional decoration (or paint if you want to make it clearly a garden spider or camel spider!). You can also make the pipe cleaner spider as an easy and slightly spooky Halloween decoration. Materials Needed: Pipe cleaners (black or brown suggested) Scissors Googly eyes (optional) Plastic beads (optional) Pom poms (optional) #21: Clothespin Dragonflies Difficulty Level: Easy When you make these cute dragonflies, you’ll use a clothespin for the body, then form the wings with four pipe cleaners to form the wings. Kids can get creative by painting the clothespin to make a colorful dragonfly and adding some googly eyes. Materials Needed: Pipe cleaners (any color) Clothespins Googly eyes Hot glue gun Paint Scissors #22: Crown/Tiara Difficulty Level: Medium Whether it’s your child’s birthday or they just want the fun of feeling like royalty, these pipe cleaner crowns will do the trick. After forming a circle for the base, add a variety of shapes formed from additional pipe cleaners to make your crown (triangles work particularly well). Materials Needed: Pipe cleaners (gold suggested) Hot glue gun Scissors Beads, stickers, or pom poms for decoration #23: Pumpkins Difficulty Level: Easy These pipe cleaner pumpkins are a great craft for kids to do around Halloween. Orange pipe cleaners are used to make the actual pumpkin, and you can use green and brown pipe cleaners to form the leaves and stem. Materials Needed: Pipe cleaners (orange, green, and brown suggested) Scissors #24: Flamingo Difficulty Level: Medium If you have pink pipe cleaners lying around, use a few to make these cute pipe cleaner flamingos. Pink feathers will make them look more realistic, and you can pose the legs in a variety of shapes, just like actual flamingos do. Materials Needed: Pipe cleaners (pink and black suggested) Pink feathers Googly Eyes Hot glue gun Scissors #25: Dragons Difficulty Level: Medium These pipe cleaner dragons are fairly easy to make (although younger kids may need some help making the tight coils for the head and body), and once you add on some foam wings, they’ll be flying in no time. Materials Needed: Pipe cleaners (any color) Craft foam Popsicle sticks Googly eyes Hot glue gun Scissors #26: Fireworks Difficulty Level: Easy Pipe cleaner fireworks are a colorful and easy way to celebrate the 4th of July. This craft uses glitter and can get messy, but kids will love dipping their fireworks into a batch of glitter and seeing them emerge covered in sparkles. Materials Needed: Pipe cleaners (red, white, and blue suggested) White craft glue Glitter Scissors Thick sponge (for drying) #27: Magic Wand Difficulty Level: Easy Any child who wants to pretend to be a magician or fairy will want to make this pipe cleaner magic wand. By using a wooden skewer as the actual wand, kids can add all sorts of pipe cleaner additions, like those made into the shape of stars and hearts, until their wand is ready to work some magic. Materials Needed: Pipe cleaners (any color) Wooden skewer Hot glue gun Scissors #28: Snowman Difficulty Level: Easy Another great winter craft, these pipe cleaner snowmen are great to make once it starts getting cold outside and kids start looking forward to snow. After making the three circles of the body, you can use different colors to add a scarf and hat to your snowman. Materials Needed: Pipe cleaners (white, black, and red suggested) Popsicle stick/wooden skewer Hot glue gun Scissors #29: Shamrock Crystals Difficulty Level: Hard This pipe cleaner craft is a bit more involved than the others, but it doubles as a science experiment, and the shamrock crystals will look beautiful hanging in the window. After forming the pipe cleaners into a shamrock, you’ll submerge them in a borax solution overnight. The next morning, they’ll be covered in crystals and ready to display. Materials Needed: Pipe cleaners (green and white suggested) Borax Boiling water Mason jars String or yarn Pencil Food coloring #30: Fall Pom Pom Tree Difficulty Level: Hard This fall pom pom tree makes a great centerpiece for a Thanksgiving dinner, and kids can work on their fine motor skills by adding decorations to the pipe cleaner tree. You can have your kids go on a nature walk and collect their own acorns, leaves, etc. to add to the tree. Materials Needed: Pipe cleaners (brown, red, orange, and yellow suggested) Pom poms (red, orange, yellow suggested) Acorns, leaves, and other tree decorations Scissors Hot glue gun #31: Lion Mask Difficulty Level: Medium For this lion mask, tightly-curled pipe cleaners make the adorable mane, and a decorated paper plate is used for the lion’s face. This mask is great to use during a play about animals or a game of make-believe. Materials Needed: Pipe cleaners (yellow/orange and brown suggested) Paper plate Yellow paint Paint stirrer Marker Hot glue gun Scissors Summary: Crafts With Pipe Cleaners Pipe cleaner crafts are a cheap, easy, and fun way to entertain kids and get them to work on their creativity and fine motor skills. There are easy pipe cleaner crafts for kids of all age groups and of all difficulty levels, so whether you have only a few minutes or several hours to spend, you can find pipe cleaner crafts to suit your needs. What's Next? Are you also interested in science experiments for kids? Read our guide to see 37 of the most fun science experiments you can do with children. (coming soon) Teaching your kids Spanish, or are you learning yourself? We have a guide to the 71 body parts in Spanish you need to know. Want to learn more about clouds? Learn how to identify every cloud in the sky with our guide to the 10 types of clouds.

Social Security Warns of ID Theft Scams

Social Security Warns of ID Theft Scams Almost 70 million Americans depend  on Social Security benefits. Sadly, whether you are already receiving benefits or not, your Social Security account is a tempting target for scammers. The sheer complexity of this mainline federal assistance program makes Social Security accounts particularly vulnerable to hacking by cyber attackers. As a result, the Social Security Administration has identified some particularly dangerous scams you should be aware of whether you are already receiving benefits or plan to in the future. Online Social Security Account Scam The Social Security Administration (SSA) strongly urges all current and future beneficiaries to set up a personal â€Å"My Social Security† account on its website. Opening a My Social Security account allows you to check the size of your current or future benefits and change your bank account direct deposit information or mailing address without having to visit your local Social Security office or wait on hold to speak to an agent. The bad news is that scammers also take advantage of many My Social Security accounts. In this bit of awful, scammers set up My Social Security accounts in the names of people who do not already have them, thus allowing them to transfer the victims’ current or future benefits to their own bank accounts or debit cards. While Social Security will reimburse victims of this scam, it can take months and leave you without benefits during that period. How to Prevent It Scammers can only set up a bogus My Social Security account in your name if they already know your Social Security Number and other personal information, which in today’s data-breach-of-the-week environment is all too likely. So, the thing to do is set up your account as soon as possible. Anyone over age 18 can set up a My Social Security account. Even if you do not intend to start drawing benefits for years, a My Social Security account can be a valuable retirement planning tool. When you set up your account, be sure to choose the â€Å"Add Extra Security† option on the online signup form. This option will cause a new security code to be sent to your cell phone or email ever time you try to access your account. You will need to enter the code in order to log on. It is sort of inconvenient, but far better than having your benefits stolen. The Fake Social Security Employee Scams There exists a whole set of scams in which the perpetrator- posing as a Social Security â€Å"agent- calls victims regarding their benefits. For example, the scammer may claim the SSA needs to verify the victim’s direct deposit information. In another more complex scam, the victim is told that their Social Security benefits are being cut because they have inherited a house from a relative; an event that would not result in a reduction of their Social Security benefit. To help perpetrate the fraud, the caller then places the recipient on hold and plays the same on-hold recordings actually used by Social Security. When the scammer comes back on the line, the victim is that told proceeds from the sale of the house will be sent to them if they pay the back taxes. Of course, there are no inherited houses or back taxes. How to Prevent It The SSA recommends taking extreme precautions before giving out personal information. â€Å"You should never provide your Social Security number or other personal information over the telephone unless you initiated the contact, or are confident of the person to whom you are speaking,† says the agency. â€Å"If in doubt, do not release information without first verifying the validity of the call.† Which you can do by calling Social Security’s toll free number at 1-800-772-1213 to verify the legitimacy of the call. (If you are deaf or hard of hearing, call Social Securitys TTY number at 1-800-325-0778.) Also be aware that scammers have also perfected the black cyber crime art of â€Å"caller ID spoofing,† so even if your caller ID says, â€Å"Social Security Administration,† it is probably just another scammer. The Data Theft Scare Scam Given the number of actual government data breaches these days, this scam is particularly believable and dangerous. The scammer – again pretending to work for Social Security – tells the victim that the agency’s computers have been hacked. In order find out if the victims account has been compromised, the scammer says he needs to verify that the SSA has the victim’s correct bank account information. To set the hook, the scammer gives the victim account information he knows is incorrect. In the end, the victim is tricked into giving the scammer their correct bank account information. Bad, very bad. How to Prevent It The SSA recommends ignoring calls and emails regarding account data breaches. The agency never initiates contact with beneficiaries by phone or email.Even letters regarding data breaches can be scams as scammers have gotten very good at making envelopes and letters look â€Å"official.† If you get such a letter call the real Social Security Administration at 800-772-1213 to find out if the letter is legitimate. If the letter gives any other number to call, do not call it. The No COLA For You Scam While it hasn’t happened since 2014, Social Security adds a cost of living adjustment (COLA) in most years based on the rate of inflation. But, when there is no increase in the consumer price index (CPI), as was the case in 2015 and 2016, there is no COLA for Social Security recipients. Scammers- again posing as SSA employees- take advantage of these non-COLA years by calling, emailing or sending letters to victims stating that the SSA had apparently â€Å"forgotten† to apply the COLA increase to their accounts. As with other scams, victims are given a form or link to a website where they can â€Å"claim† their COLA increase by providing their Social Security Number and bank account information. By now, you know what happens next. Tell your money goodbye. How to Prevent It Ignore the letters, calls or emails. When and if they are given, Social Security applies COLAs automatically and without fail to the accounts of all current beneficiaries. You never have to â€Å"apply† for them. The New, Improved Social Security Card Scam In this one, the scammer, again posing as an SSA employee, tells the victim that the agency is replacing all old paper Social Security cards with new high tech, â€Å"ID theft proof† computer chips embedded in them. The scammer tells the victim that they will not get any more benefits until they have gotten one of the new cards. The scammer then claims that he can â€Å"expedite† the replacement card if the victim provides their identity and bank account details. Clearly not the smart thing to do. How to Prevent It Ignore the claims. The SSA has no plans, desire or money to replace millions of old Social Security cards or to start issuing high-tech cards. In fact, the SSA recommends you not even carry your Social Security card with you due to the threat of identity theft. Instead, memorize your Social Security number and put the card in a safe, secret place. Report Suspected Scams The SSA’s office of inspector general asks Americans to report known or suspected incidents of scams. Reports can be submitted online at the SSA’s Report Fraud, Waste or Abuse website. Reports can also be submitted by mail to: Social Security Fraud Hotline​P.O. Box 17785Baltimore, Maryland 21235 In addition, reports can be submitted by telephone to 1-800-269-0271 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (TTY: 1-866-501-2101 for the deaf or hard of hearing.)

Long Story Short

Long Story Short I’ve often heard writers of nonfiction complain that they’re the Rodney Dangerfields of the literary world. Not that they don’t sell a lot of books and articles (because they do) or that they don’t make money from their writing (because they do). Their complaint is that they aren’t recognized as â€Å"real† writers until they’ve published fiction. The same might be said of short-story writers. Some feel they aren’t truly fiction writers unless and until they’ve sold a novel. Many people who are not themselves writers have asked me, â€Å"Why waste your time writing short stories?† Well, I’ve written three novels- two are out with an agent and the other is sitting here at home aging like tobacco leaves, or (as I prefer to think) fine wine. But mostly I write short. One reason, honestly, is that since I’ve sold so many short stories and have never sold a novel, I just feel more comfortable with the short stuff. It’s safe ground for me, and I’m as reluctant as the next soldier to venture far from my foxhole unless someone orders me to. Does that mean I’m not a real fiction writer? Maybe so. But it’s not a question that bothers me much. Having said all that, what possible advantages could there be to writing short stories instead of novels? Well, here are a few: (1) They can be resold. I’ve had some of my shorts published half a dozen times each, in different markets. If you’ve not signed away â€Å"all rights,† you can sell reprints over and over again. (2) They give you a sense of completion. Finishing a story and writing THE END is a great feeling, to me. I can write a short story in a matter of days, and then turn around and write something else, something completely different. (3) There’s less time invested. A novel takes months or even years to write, and if it doesn’t sell, you’ve spent an enormous chunk of time with those characters and that plot. (4) They can help build a rà ©sumà ©. Story credits in quality magazines and anthologies can make you more marketable to agents and publishers of longer works. (5) They’re good practice. Crafting publishable short stories teaches you how to write â€Å"tight.† Novels might be long, but the best novels are still focused and compact, with few wasted words. Writing short also gives you experience in creating the story arc that is so necessary in novels, screenplays, etc. (6) You don’t need an agent. I had a wonderful agent for several years who represented my short fiction (he passed away in 1999), but few agents now will take on short-story authors, and the truth is, you can probably do as well without them. (7) It’s fun. I think the process of putting together a good plot and believable characters in only a few thousand words is a thrill as well as a challenge. A final note. Some writers don’t write short because they don’t think they can. Several novelist friends (one a New York Times bestseller) have told me they think short stories are extremely difficult to write. Lawrence Block once agreed, saying: â€Å"Novels aren’t harder; they’re just longer.† And Faulkner said he tried writing short stories when he found he couldn’t write poetry, and then turned to writing novels when he found he couldn’t write short stories. I’ve also heard that writing a good novel requires a better storyteller, while writing a good short story requires a better craftsman. Is that true? Beats me. It doesn’t matter anyway. There’ll always be room for both.

Introduce wordMicrobreweries from Pacific Northwest and Alaska Essay

Introduce wordMicrobreweries from Pacific Northwest and Alaska - Essay Example After this deregulation, the area witnessed a sudden rise in the number of microbreweries largely due to the related profitability and comparatively lower investment to start the business. In the U.S, the term microbrewery is used to refer to a beer production unit that produces < 15000 barrels/annum (Bamforth n.p.). A rapid growth in the establishment of new microbreweries is evident in Alaska and places to drink by the name of brewpubs are rapidly emerging which can provide up to 36oz/day to an average customer. During recent times, microbrewers have teamed up to form guilds that work collectively for the betterment of the microbrewers as a whole. The â€Å"Brewers guild of Alaska† is one such body which aims to strengthen networking base for brewers and suppliers, retailers and various others. The purpose of such bodies is to safeguard the interests of microbrewers who in majority of cases work independently of one

The West plays a major role in American mythology Essay

The West plays a major role in American mythology - Essay Example However, rather than having a determinant beginning and especially a determinant end, the expansionism that contributed to the â€Å"taming† and settlement of the American West by mainly European immigrants had a profound effect on the American consciousness and an understanding of imperialism that has continued to develop up to and including the present time. Firstly, the definition of this â€Å"frontier† was necessarily those areas that were not officially incorporated states within the Union. As a function of a series of treaties and more than a few land purchases, as well as wars with Old European powers, the â€Å"frontier† was officially defined as a place in which the United States could experience a level of what came to be termed â€Å"Manifest Destiny†.1 Although the term itself reeks of the hubris of racism and the divine right of non-native peoples to invade, conquer, and settle the lands of others, it nonetheless played a powerful and continu al role in defining the American consciousness. ... realizing the dream that Manifest Destiny had first espoused – creating a North American continent that was dominated by a United States that stretched from â€Å"sea to shining sea†. Moreover, the Gilded Age was important in the colonization and development of the American West as it provided the tools, skill, technology, and rapid development that was necessary to radically transform and â€Å"civilize† the West. Without the availability of processed and finished goods from back East during the era in which the West was being colonized, the existence of the railroad, and the constant support from the US Army to squelch any native uprisings that resulted from the theft of their lands, the private and public partnership was congealed. This public and private partnership between big money and politics is sadly a marriage that continues to define the current world in which the United States operates. However, of perhaps equal importance to the actualities that Mani fest Destiny is the level of understanding and subconscious determinants that such a cultural phenomena espoused. As a direct and measurable result of doctrine of Manifest Destiny, once the age was over, there was latent energy within American society that it was also the â€Å"destiny† of the United States to control North American and beyond. As a function of this, there was an era of imperialism that was engaged upon which has continued almost unabated until the present.2 For this reason, expansion into the Caribbean and later the Pacific would be a trend that began to manifest itself more and more as the years of Western expansion drew to a close. Of course it cannot be stated that this level of conquest affected all groups equally. As can be noted from an even cursory review of history, the way in which

Health Care Reform Bill Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Health Care Reform Bill - Essay Example Health Care Reforms According to Swan and Haas (2011), PPACA initiatives listed were favored by several national reports. First, the healthcare reform bills were put in place to enhance transparency and integrity in the program. Secondly, ensure all Americans have access to quality health care. Thirdly, make considerations to the providers of health care such as the hospital workforce. Fourthly, provide for public health improvement and prevent chronic diseases. According to the Thomas official website (2011), employers were expected to provide their employees with health insurance or take the option of subsidizing their employees’ healthcare by paying the government. This was the healthcare reform bills as at 2009 while they were still pending. H.R. 3590 Senate Bill and H.R. 3962 House Bill were proposed to provide Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and Affordable Health Care for America Act respectively. As healthcare responds to the trends in cost, there would be a continuous catalyze on distribution and supply of healthcare. Problems are argued to arise in the post reform era on management of the trends of cost by deflecting the distribution network downwards and that of the supply chain. For example, between 1960 and 2008 the national expenditure healthcare cost grew from $28 billion to $2.34 trillion at an average growth of 10% annually, (Obamacare, 2011). The main difference with the House bill was its lack of surtax on wealthy individuals. H.R. 3590 has been described as having slow effects on different reforms. For example, the individual mandate has been schedule for 2014, a delay of a year. In that, if an individual does not obtain insurance coverage, they will face a penalty of $750 individually or the options of paying 2% gross income depending on the greater option. Regardless of the employees not mandatorily responsible for provisions of insurance to their employees, they are likely to face the same effects. In support of the Senat e Bill H.R. 3590, legislators argued that consumers were to benefit through the protection from unjustly practices by insurance providers. Also, the major advantage of the passed bill was the health accessibility and affordability to a larger population. As such, these legislators argued that U.S. deficit as at 2020 was likely to have reduced by approximately $100 billion. However, despite the above advantages, different groups opposed these reforms. First, they argued that the health care quality will be affected negatively yet its costs would have been increased. Different representatives from the congress approximated that the cost of the law at $2.5 trillion at a span period of 10 years and as a result, U.S. will most likely get into higher debts as noted by Coleman, Checkland, McDermott & Harrison, (2011). The Senate Bill was opposed by few stakeholders in the healthcare such as health insurers who argued that the private insurers were expected to maintain a minimum of 8% in pr emiums. Secondly, they opposed it in recognition that there will be reduction of insurance costs among small businesses. Thirdly, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce there was lack of principles in the reform that affected health status, food and drugs cases and fragmentation in the market as such they opposed this bill. On the other hand, pharmaceutical industries, physicians and AARP went in favor of the